Two New York Locations

Nyack News

Faculty of Nyack College and Alliance Theological Seminary (ATS) will convene for an annual retreat on August 27-28 at the Rockland County, NY campus hosted by Nyack’s Center for Scholarship and Global Engagement. The Center is directed by Dr. Vilma “Nina” Balmaceda.

Headlining the event will be two of our nation’s leading Christian scholars. Nyack College and ATS professors will also be featured in a special faculty presentation and two special moderated panels.

On Monday, August 27 in the chapel of Alliance Theological Seminary, 350 North Highland Ave. in Nyack, Dr. Joel Carpenter (pictured above) will present his keynote address, "Faithful Scholarship in an Age of World Christianity." Dr. Carpenter is the director of the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, MI and the former provost of Calvin College (1996-2006). Prior to this post, he was director of the religion program at Pew Charitable Trusts for seven years.

He received his Ph.D. in history from Johns Hopkins University. His area of expertise is religious history and the transformation of global Christianity. His latest work is Walking Together: Christian Thinking and Public Life in South Africa (ACU Press, 2012). Other publications by Dr. Carpenter include The Changing Face of Christianity: Africa, the West, and the World (Oxford, 2005) co-edited with Lamin Sanneh; a chapter, "The Christian Scholar in an Age of World Christianity," in the book, Christianity and the Soul of the University, (Douglas Henry and Michael Beaty, Eds. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2006); and his award-winning study, Revive Us Again: The Reawakening of American Fundamentalism (Oxford, 1997).

Following Dr. Carpenter’s address, two panels will be presented featuring Nyack/ATS faculty.

Dr. James Danaher, a Nyack professor of philosophy will present, “Jesus After Modernity: A 21st Century Critique of our Modern Concept of Truth and the Truth of the Gospel” on Monday at 1:30 p.m. A response to the presentation will be given by Mr. Udo Middelmann, LLM, MA, CSGE International Scholars in Residence.

Tuesday, August 28, Dr. Peter A. Facione, head of Measured Reasons LLC, a Los Angeles based research and consulting firm supporting excellence in teaching will present a keynote speech, “Teaching For and About Critical Thinking,” in the auditorium of Nyack College’s Pardington Hall, 45 South Boulevard in Nyack. The former provost of Loyola University Chicago and dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Santa Clara University (pictured at left) is also the author of numerous books on critical thinking. Dr. Facione has addressed the topic of critical thinking at dozens of universities around the world. He is known as an engaging, innovative, and humorous presenter.